Resurgence: Legend of the elemental dragons
by dracologistmaster
Summary: Two dragons, after a lifetime of suffering and war are thrust into yet more conflict after waking to a world they have no memory of. Can they find a way home, or are they the last of their species, awakened in a world that needs them most?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I want to thank** **Sir Aries Lionheart for Beta reading this story for me. I hope you all like it and please leave me a review. :)**

Flames raged through a small village, the wooden homes burning with a haunting light illuminating the creatures above. Creatures of myth and legend, though for this village the creatures were all too real. The people, Vikings, massive muscular brutes raised to enjoy a good fight and taught that, should they die in battle, they would go to a place called Valhalla.

Among them was a boy that contradicted everything they were. He was small, weak in body but strong in mind, though among Vikings that quality was somewhat frowned upon, at least for this boy whose inventions seemed to always backfire and bring harm to himself or another villager or destroy property. If you couldn't wield a sword or an axe you were pretty much useless. Currently the boy was running through the village making his way toward the blacksmith's shop where he worked as an apprentice.

Entering the forge, the boy was greeted by his mentor. A large man with no hair aside from a long blonde moustache and a prosthetic arm and leg. "Nice of you to join the party." The man said in greeting, swapping his hammer attachment for a pair of tongs and grabbing a heated sword from the forge. "I thought you'd been carried off." He teased with a smal grin on his face as he worked.

The boy replied as he put on his apron and pumped the bellows, supplying air to the fire to make it burn hotter. "Who me? Nah, they wouldn't know what to do with all...this." He answered gesturing to himself. He knew the man was kidding but it still stung the boys pride a bit that his mentor thought him so easily defeated. However, tonight would be the night he proved himself to his village. Tonight he would take down the one dragon that had plagued his and every other village it came to. Tonight he would take down the elusive night fury, one way or another.

his teacher thought of the perfect response. "Well they need toothpicks too, don't they?" He asked sarcastically as he bent a sword back to somewhat straight before pounding it flat on the anvil with his prosthetic hammer attachment. Focusing on his work he hammered at the sword for a few moments before placing it back over the flame.

The two bantered back and forth for another few minutes before a sound they had all hoped not to hear screamed into existence with a massive blue and purple explosion following it as a catapault collapsed on itself. The blonde mustached master smith grunted, swapping out his hammer attachment for his axe.

Turning to his apprentice he spoke. "Man the fort Hiccup, they need me out there." He stated turning to the doorway only to turn back to face his apprentice. "Stay. Put. There. You know what I mean." He instructed pointing at Hiccup with his real hand before bellowing a war cry and charging out of the shop.

Waiting only minutes to make sure his mentor was not coming back Hiccup darted out of the shop pushing a strange looking wheel barrow, one of his inventions that he had somewhat perfected and knew was capable of taking down the Night Fury. Making his way to an empty and somewhat quiet hill, Hiccup dropped the handles and flipped open the lids before hauling the launcher from its folded up position.

Watching the sky, Hiccup noticed a spot of stars blocked out by something as inky black as the night sky. He knew it to be the Night Fury and waited for the right moment, launching the bola projectile only after the fireball hit the tower he had set up close to. Pushing himself up he watched and listened as the beast shrieked as it was torn from the sky. "Oh yes, I hit it." Hiccup shouted in celebration. "Did anyone see that?" He questioned turning his back to the hill. No one had seen his accomplishment, but something had. A large red scaled creature with black stripes, twisted and curved horns and a cream colored underbelly growled angrily at the boy and was about to strike when a shriek it had never heard before caught it and the boy's attention.

Hiccup watched as the Monstrous Nightmare's eye's widened to what seemed to be fearful and apologetic black pools before flying off. This made no sense to Hiccup, he was raised and taught that dragons were nothing but brainless, emotionless beasts. Pushing his thoughts aside Hiccup ran back to the forge and set to work again, the events he had been through, shooting down the Night Fury, almost being killed by a monstrous nightmare, and last the strange new dragon that he had barely seen that saved his life. Hiccup didn't know what to make of it.

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"Get close to me!"

"What are you doing?"

"There's no time!"

The voices just seemed to repeat the same phrases over and over until finally, they stopped with the sound of shattering crystal and scaled flesh impacting solid ground. The first of the three to awaken was a large, purple scaled creature with gold colored underbelly, horns, and wing membranes. Looking around he found his companions lying close by, though they were still unconscious and night had claimed the sky putting a chill in the air that made it feel like Dante's freezer all over again. Gathering what little wood he could find in the area, the purple creature lit a fire to give his snoozing companions some warmth before lying down himself.

it was a few hours before dawn when the purple creature and his comrades were awoken to the sounds of screeching and shouting, of metal meeting flesh and the roars of pain, rage, and loss that followed. Climbing to their feet the purple creature exchanged a look with his slim, black scaled friend, she had a maroon underbelly and wing membranes, but her horns were bright white. Seconds later they were airborn.

The new comers found themselves flying over a burning village, its occupants trying in vain to chase off the attackers and put out the multiple blazes that had consumed many of the buildings. "Spyro what do we do?" The black scaled creature asked watching the scene unfolding beneath them. "Those things are fighting dragons, I think. Who do we help?" She asked, the screams of multiple villagers accompanying her question.

The purple scaled creature, Spyro, turned to her before casting a look back at the burning village. "We help the villagers. Those things might be dragons but, we don't attack the villagers unless there's no other choice Cynder." Spyro stated with a determined expression. "Cynder, I want you to help as many people as you can, I'm going to try to put out some of the fires." Spyro instructed before flying off towards the largest fire in the village.

Looking to the ground fights going on Cynder noticed a boy being chased by one of the large red and black scaled creatures, its wings acting as front feet in place of the non-existent appendages. Diving on the red scaled creature Cynder let out a shriek that paused all combat. None had ever heard that particular cry before, it was terrifying to all, but the creature that emitted it. Though its full effect came to bare on the creature pursuing the boy, showing it what it feared most and causing it to flee in panic.

Casting a quick glance at the boy she had saved Cynder flew away quickly to assist another villager that had several children following her. The creature harassing the woman stood on four small legs with a wide body and two very long necks, it was green in color with small spots of red. In all honesty it creeped Cynder out, but she none the less pounced on the aggressive twin headed creature and blasted it with black fire before leaping off of it and taking up a defensive position between the woman and children and the creature. "Get out of here." Cynder ordered earning a shocked look from the woman and fearful reactions from the children. "Go, now, I can't play defense forever." Cynder stated sternly snapping the woman from her stupor.

While Cynder was busy with the woman and children the twin headed monster had righted itself and was preparing to blast Cynder. Hearing the strange gurgling sound Cynder immediately focused on the beast and dodged the attack by sinking into the ground using her shadow sneak ability. Luckily when she came back up the group of humans was gone and the creature she was fighting had disappeared, knowing a losing battle when it saw her ability to sink into the ground.

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Spyro spent the night putting out fires, his bright scale pattern earning him the attention of not only the villagers, but the dragon like creatures as well. At one building in particular Spyro noticed several teenagars throwing buckets an a fire too large for the few of them. Angling downward Spyro blasted the building with his ice breath catching several exclaimations of disbelief, both from the teens and the adult villagers. None could believe that a dragon had helped them and with a breath they had never seen before. A loud roar from one of the dragons and the others flew off carrying their pilfered meal.

Meeting up with Cynder back at their camp Spyro and Cynder as well as Sparx watched the sun rise and the last of the dragons flying into the distance.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day as the village awoke everyone made their way to the great hall. Rumors had been spreading about two dragons that had helped the village instead of doing harm. One such rumor was about a woman that was leading a bunch of children to the great hall. Stoick didn't know what to say about these alleged helpful dragons, never in the history of Berk had a dragon been helpful. It went against everything they knew, everything they had been taught.

Making his way to the front of the great hall Stoick slammed his fist on the table to get everyone's attention. "Alright, we're all gathered here to discuss those dragons everyone's been talking about. To start things off I want only eye witness accounts. No, I heard from such and such that he saw this or that, understood?" Stoick questioned glancing pointedly around the room. Everyone nodded or otherwise gave a sign that they understood. Nodding Stoick stood up straight. "Alright then, I want the woman and children that were saved by the black and purple dragon to come forward." Stoick requested clearing enough room for them to be at the front.

Making their way to the front the same group that was saved by the black and purple dragon faced the crowd. "I don't know what you all have heard, but here is what happened. Last night during the raid I was gathering the children to take them to the great hall. On our way here we were stopped by a Zippleback. I didn't know what to do; I couldn't engage the dragon because that would have left the children defenseless. Before I could make a decision the black dragon dropped onto the Zippleback and breathed black fire all over it. After that it jumped between us and..." The woman paused unsure of how to continue from this point. She couldn't believe what had happened herself and if she couldn't believe it, even after having lived through it, the rest of the village would just think she was insane.

A little girl of no more than seven years hesitantly stepped forward. "She talked, the dragon told us to get out of there." She timidly stated earning many shocked expressions. "It sounded like a girl and she told us she couldn't play defense forever. So we followed her to the great hall." The little girl continued, gesturing to the woman she stood beside, before being stopped by the adult she had been following last night.

Taking over the retelling, the woman continued where the girl left off. "We heard an explosion and I saw the Zippleback fly away, almost as if it were afraid. We never saw the black and purple dragon again and in the clean up, I never saw her body so I think she may still be alive." The woman finished glancing concernedly around the room at the many disbelieving faces and whispers between friends, most likely about her sanity.

Stoick stepped forward once more, taking everyone's attention off of the woman and children. "We have one more account that we need to hear before anything is said or decided. Fire brigade, front and center!" Stoick shouted making sure that they all heard him. As soon as they were all in front of him he looked each of them in the eyes with all the seriousness the current situation deserved. "You, among many others, have claimed to see a purple and gold dragon helping our village as well. All accounts claim the same thing. That it flew over and breathed ice on the burning homes. All accounts, but yours, you all claim to have gotten a good look at it due to the size of the fire you were fighting. I want one of you to tell me, without embellishment, what this dragon looked like." The chief instructed maintaining eye contact with their leader, a girl by the name of Astrid Hofferson.

With a quick nod of her head Astrid stepped forward. "Sir, the creature was large but I doubt it was bigger than a Nadder. It had four legs and a medium build, most likely quick on its feet. Based on build I would guess male and moderately strong. Its ice breath was powerful too, the fire we were fighting was almost immediately put out as soon as it hit, and we re still trying to get rid of the ice it left behind." She reported staring her chief in the eyes the whole time. "It didn't speak as she claims the other did, though if these two dragons are related it may be possible the purple dragon can speak as well." Astrid finished stepping back so that Stoick had everyone s attention once more.

Clearing his throat Stoick glanced around the room seeing all the concerned expressions as well as the whispers shared amongst friends. "Alright everyone, we've heard the witness accounts now we have a decision to make." The chief stated earning everyone's attention once more. "If these dragons are smart enough to speak we need to decide whether to capture them alive or simply kill them on sight like all the others." He informed them. 'Personally I don't care whether they live or die, the only good dragon is a dead dragon, especially after what they did to Val!' The chief thought, his memories of that fateful day replaying in his mind.

Everyone began talking over one another with their own thoughts on the matter and one or more turned into fist fights before a voice none expected spoke over the rest. "I think we should capture them alive." Fishlegs stated with his eyes tightly shut. He hated the attention that his statement brought but continued quickly. "Think about what we could learn. New ways to defeat them, how they think, maybe even where the nest is." He began, pressing his hands together in nervousness. "But at the same time, no other dragon we've met has ever spoken. We have to consider that these dragons may have been sent by the Gods, and if they were, do we really want to harm them and risk angering Odin or any of the others?" Fishlegs finished hesitantly knowing that his statement might anger more than a few of the adults.

Stoick however was a smart man; everything Fishlegs had said had put an idea in his head, though the last statement had him concerned. If these dragons were sent by the Gods what would happen if they were harmed and which God or Gods would show them their wrath? Many of the villagers had the same thoughts running through their heads and none could stop imagining the terrible things the Gods might do.

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Meanwhile in the forest, Hiccup walked crossing out location after location in search of the dragon he had shot down last night. After many failed searches in many wrong locations Hiccup slowly raised his head hoping to find the beast he had hit. As he glanced around he could see nothing and furiously scribbled an X before dragging the stick of charcoal all across his map throwing it in the middle of the pages before slamming the book shut and depositing it back in his vest. "Oh the Gods hate me." He began, sounding slightly depressed. "Some people lose their knife or their mug, no not me; I manage to lose an entire dragon!" He exclaimed, angrily slapping a low hanging branch only for it to come back and hit him in the face.

Glaring angrily at the tree for a second Hiccup realized something wasn't right. Looking a little higher he found that something had hit the tree hard enough to snap it almost in half. Just after it was a trench dug into the earth by something large and moving very fast, flat black circular objects littered the trail. Carefully following the path of destruction he came to a small rise in the trench and cautiously peeked over it, quickly ducking down when he spotted his target.

Over the rise and a ways away behind a large boulder, lay a large pitch black scaled creature tangled in ropes and heavy weights. Its wing stuck up in the air and bent at an uncomfortable angle.

Slowly making his way towards the trapped dragon, Hiccup pressed his back against the boulder and quickly drew his knife, though in his haste almost managed to throw it into the woods. Peeking out from behind the boulder, Hiccup cautiously made his way toward the dragon, marveling at the fact that he'd done something right for once. "Yes, yes I did it, oh this fixes everything!" He exclaimed happily placing a foot on the dragons shoulder. "I have brought down this mighty beast!" He declared.

The dragon however was not going down that easily. Roughly shoving his shoulder against the creature that dared to step on him, the dragon watched as the smooth skin stumbled back against a large boulder. Glaring at the human as he once more came closer he listened as the pale skinned creature spoke and raised a small weapon. He stared at the creature, he knew what was going to happen and he wanted the smooth skin to look him in the eye when he delivered the final blow. He wanted the smooth skin to see that he wasn't just another animal and that he knew exactly what was going to happen.

Hiccup, dagger held over his head and ready struggled to bring the knife down. Everything in him knew that killing this beast was what made you worth anything in the village of Berk, but he couldn't. No matter what he tried, Hiccup couldn't bring the knife down to end the dragon in front of him. Its eyes were burned into Hiccups mind. To him they looked fearful, almost to the point of pleading.

With a long drawn out sigh Hiccup lowered the dagger, glancing at it only once. "I did this." He stated somberly. Though it had been exactly what he wanted; now he could only feel guilty about it. Turning to walk away he stopped only a couple steps away. Hurrying back to the dragon he began cutting the ropes, he knew it was a crazy idea but it was the least he could do after shooting down the dragon.

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Cynder never fell back to sleep after assisting the villagers, too many things running through her mind. Namely, the small group that she saved from the creepy, two headed dragon. They looked so stunned when she saved them and more so when she spoke to them. She had brought it up to Spyro but he had no ideas on the subject.

Shaking her head Cynder stood up and headed into the forest away from the village, she had no desire to go to that place unless absolutely necessary. As she wandered aimlessly through the forest she came upon a scene she never thought she would see. Standing in a small clearing over a dragon slightly larger than herself, Cynder found one of the strange creatures from the village, no bigger than herself and just as skinny. Judging by its scent the creature was male.

Cynder could see that he was speaking but it was so quiet that she couldn't make out what he said until he shouted. "I am a Viking!" He exclaimed raising a dagger over his head. Cynder s eyes widened and she froze; she wanted nothing more than to save the dragon in front of her but her body refused to move. All she could do was silently wish that the boy would choose to be different than the others, that maybe he would choose to learn about the dragons rather than mindlessly slaughter them.

Her wish came true as the boy sighed in defeat and lowered the dagger. Cynder let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding and watched as the boy stopped, she hadn't notice he had begun to walk away, and turned back to the dragon then looked at the dagger in his hand. Before she could think of what he might be doing, the boy was cutting the ropes to free the dragon.

Cynder watched in surprise as the dragon broke free once enough of the ropes had been cut and pinned the boy. 'I should kill you boy!' Cynder heard the dragon growl. 'But because you spared me, even after threatening me, I think I should repay the favor!' The dragon exclaimed with a roar to make his point before running off into the forest.

Unable to see the dragon anymore, Cynder watched the boy fumble with his dagger and stumble a few steps away before falling on his face with a hilarious groan. Chuckling to herself, Cynder made her way cautiously toward the unconscious boy. After making sure he was out cold Cynder carefully placed him across her back and, though it went against her better judgment, took the boy back to the edge of the forest close to his village. 


	3. Chapter 3

As she neared the edge of the forest Cynder felt the boy begin to move. She didn't want the boy or anyone to know that she was here and so, tilting her right shoulder closer to the ground, Cynder carefully slid the boy to the ground and turned to hide in the shrubbery. However, it seemed the gods, or maybe a certain chronicler, had other ideas.

No sooner had he hit the ground then he started sitting up and looking around catching sight of Cynder before she could find a decent hiding spot. Acting without thinking Hiccup leapt toward Cynder and latched onto her neck, surprising the thin framed female and knocking her to the ground.

Cynder couldn't believe what had just happened to her. This thin framed, non-muscular "Viking" as he called himself, had just tackled her to the ground. Growling, Cynder rolled over on top of the boy and pinned him similarly to the dragon he had tried to kill earlier. "Why did you tackle me?" Cynder demanded showing her teeth to the stunned boy. The look on his face reminding her of the children she had protected from the two headed dragon.

Cynder didn't know what to do now, her reaction was entirely instinctual which put her in a rather troublesome situation. On one paw she could let the boy go and run off in a random direction so as not to lead his people back to their camp. On the other paw she could hold him here until she thought of a better option. However that left her open to being discovered and in this situation the end result wouldn't be good for her. "I'll make you a deal boy, you say nothing about this to your friends and in exchange I let you go mostly uninjured, deal?" Cynder asked with a serious look on her face.

Hiccup was stunned to say the least. He was certain there was a look of disbelief on his face. "I thought if I captured you, I might actually matter to someone in my village." He answered with a sad expression on his face. "Everyone was talking about you last night and I thought that this was my chance to actually make my mark, but we see how well that's going." Hiccup stated closing his eyes. "I couldn't even kill the Night Fury while it was trapped, what made me think I could take down a strange dragon with just my bare hands?" He asked himself with a shake of his head.

He lay there silently while the dragon looked to be thinking over her options and when she spoke Hiccup couldn't believe what he heard. Was she really just going to let him go, could he be that lucky twice in a day? What did she mean mostly uninjured? Apparently his thoughts were more obvious than he thought as he saw the black and purple dragon grin. "I'm afraid to ask but, what do you mean mostly uninjured?" Hiccup questioned, concern written plainly on his face.

Cynder didn't smirk nor did she laugh, with a straight face she looked him in the eyes and answered. "I have to leave you some way to remember our deal. It won't be permanent but I will mark you so that you will always remember our deal until I decide to release you from it or until it becomes unnecessary for the mark to be there." She replied in an all too serious tone.

Hiccup couldn't help himself; his curious nature simply got the better of him, though it could also have been his scared witless thinking at the moment. "What kind of mark and are you sure it has to hurt?" He questioned, sounding somewhat sarcastic. He wanted to accept the deal so that he could live but he hated the thought of pain being involved.

Cynder shook her head in disbelief. "No I don't know for sure that it has to hurt, but it is better not to promise that it won't. Now do you accept or do we have to do this the hard way?" Cynder questioned, her patience wearing thin. Who knew that a Viking could be so annoying?

Hiccup knew her tone all too well; it was the same tone the people in the village used when and if they spoke to him. A tone of impatience, but more importantly it was the tone his father used whenever he spoke to him. "Deal." He answered glumly turning his head to stare at the nearest tree.

She didn't know what had made the boys attitude change but she could tell that he was sad for some reason. "Look I'm sorry it has to be this way, but for now I can't afford for anyone to know where I am." Cynder stated apologetically. "This might hurt." She reminded him as she dug one of her claws into the left side of the boy s chest but didn't break the skin. Disappearing into the woods seconds later Cynder left the boy confused and lying on the ground.

Sitting up Hiccup pulled his tunic away from his somewhat sore chest to see what damage had been done. On his chest, just about where his heart would be, was a mark in the shape of the dragons head. "I wonder why she put it there." He asked himself out loud as he stood up. "Better yet, what happens to me if someone notices this, even if by accident?" He rambled worriedly to himself.

As he walked back into the village, Hiccup constantly adjusted his tunic to ensure that the mark was covered. Ducking into the forge Hiccup found Gobber hard at work. This gave him an opportunity, so long as Gobber wasn't upset with him for his disobedience. Clearing his throat to announce his presence Hiccup spoke. "Hey, Gobber, I was wondering. Have dragons ever marked or spoken to anyone?" He asked, as he pumped the billows a couple times before grabbing a sword to sharpen on the grind stone. He had no idea how Gobber would react to the question but the response he got wasn't what he expected.

Gobber scratched his head with his one real hand in thought before answering. "Not in my experience, until now that is, a woman and a bunch of kids said the dragon that protected them spoke." He explained setting down the finished sword he was working on. "As for a dragon marking someone, plenty of people have scars, but I suspect you re talking about a different kind of mark." Gobber said thoughtfully. "There is a legend about a man, marked by dragons. It is an old legend and only Gothi might remember it entirely, but he was supposedly the messenger of the end of his tribe or something like that." Gobber finished with a light chuckle. "I wouldn't put too much stock in to it though, 300 years and not a single occurrence." He joked, completely missing Hiccup's slightly panicked expression.

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While Hiccup's in the forest.

The great hall had fallen silent, a surprising occurrence considering that its occupants are usually obnoxiously loud. One man in particular had remained uncharacteristically quiet. Stoick stood at the head of the group, a thoughtful expression on his face. "So, then, I call this meeting to a vote. All for capturing these two dragons alive, if possible?" Stoick questioned, a large and loud chorus of ayes followed with only a few individuals chose not to respond and of those was a thin, gray haired man carrying a large walking staff, a sheep following close behind him. Both reeked of cabbage and body odor, though for the animal that was expected.

"What next Stoick?" The old man questioned with an accompanying call from the sheep. "Do we allow the everyday dragons to live as well because they too could be a creation of the gods?" The old man demanded shaking his staff in the air. "I say you're all fools, just because these two dragons supposedly helped us and one of them can speak we choose to capture them alive!" He exclaimed angrily. "I say you are all fools. They'll try to kill us as soon as we try to capture them and if they don't Gothi will have many more to heal than any other dragon raid in the history of Berk!" The old man shouted, his voice echoing in the large stone chamber.

Stoick raised his voice to ensure that he was heard by all. "Mildew, those dragons may or may not have been sent by the Gods, but either way, they will be captured alive. If they can speak, we can get information out of them. That information might just be the location of the nest and, if it is, we can be rid of the devils." Stoick stated. His words held a double meaning which was caught by almost everyone in attendance.

Standing back to his full height, Stoick cleared his throat. "This brings me to the second reason I called this meeting. I propose another search for the nest." He started. "One more: before the ice sets in." Stoick stated, driving a dagger through the corner of a map and into the wooden tabletop. "I know that many of those ships never return, but we must keep trying. If we don't drive them off or kill them all, we risk being driven from this island, or worse." He finished remembering the list of wounded or dead that had been tallied after the raid, sadly there had been some children lost as well in the raid, the first in a very long time. None the less, there had been a steady decline in recent years in the population of Berk and with the unrelenting raids; there was a good chance that in only a few more years Berk wouldn't exist.

Raising his fist into the air he asked. "Who's with me?" He shouted, determination burning bright in his eyes. Scanning the room he noticed many sheepish faces and almost everyone avoided eye contact with their chief. Many gave different reasons for their inability to accompany him on his hunt, none of which he would accept. "Alright then, those who stay will look after the twins and Hiccup." Stoick declared with a stern expression earning more than the reaction he thought he would get.

The meeting was dismissed a few moments later, Gobber spoke as he stood to leave. "Alright, I'll pack my undies." He said after a drink from his mug. He never expected Stoick to turn him down though, which is exactly what happened. "No, I need you to stay here and train some new recruits." Stoick instructed with a tired sigh.

Gobber saw an opening and took it. "Oh, sure, and while I m busy Hiccup will have the stall to himself. Molten steel, razor sharp blades, lots of time to himself. What could possibly go wrong?" He asked sarcastically. He knew the boy wasn't as bad as everyone made him out to be but he wanted to be a part of the nest hunt and failing that, he would get Hiccup into dragon training.

Stoick shook his head. "What am I going to do with him Gobber?" He asked rubbing his temples. He expected some kind of smart remark from his best friend, but what he got was laughable at best. Gobber wanted him to allow Hiccup into training with the other teens. "He'd be killed before you let the first dragon out of its cage!" Stoick shouted standing from the table and going on a long winded speech about his child hood.

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Hiccup had finished all his work early and had gone to visit Gothi in order to find out about the legend Gobber had informed him of. Raising a shaky hand he knocked on the door, prepared for the annoyed look she usually held only to be surprised when she opened the door with an expectant grin. This didn't make him feel any better; it usually meant she had something on you that no one but her could know.

Watching her closely as he entered her home and took a seat, Hiccup paid close attention to her hands and walking stick. "Gothi, I came here to ask." He began, only to be cut off by a wave of her hand and a knowing expression. "You know why I m here?" He asked hesitantly, earning a nod from the elderly woman. The next thing Hiccup knew, Gothi was in front of him with a hand on his chest, right where the dragon had marked him.

His breath hitched in his throat and his heart pounded heavily in his chest. Did she know about the mark? Had she been able to see everything that happened between him and that dragon? What would she do? Would she tell everyone? All these questions and more popped into his head and only served to increase panic.

Gothi saw his panic immediately and reacted accordingly; raising her walking stick she smacked him on the head just hard enough to get his attention. Once his eyes were on her again and he had calmed down a bit she pointed to her eyes, probably telling him that she had seen what happened. Reaching out a wrinkled and shaky hand, Gothi pushed Hiccup's tunic aside, revealing the black and purple dragons mark.

A/N: Hey everybody, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I finally found the poll system and I posted one on my profile. In the new year I plan on working on one and only one of my stories. So I leave it up to you to pick which one that will be. voting will be closed on the tenth of January so cast your votes and as always please let me know what you think. Last but not least I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy new year! :) 


	4. Chapter 4

A.N. Hey everybody, sorry it's been so long. Things have been kind of hectic. Between helping my grandparents who have been in and out of the hospital the last few months, and a new temporary job I haven't had much time to do any writing. I haven't dropped this or any of my stories and I promise I will update as soon as I can. Thank you for your patience and I hope you like this chapter. As usual please let me know what you thought and enjoy. :)

Tapping a withered finger twice on the mark, Gothi turned away from him and looked through her many books. It took her several minutes before she found the one she wanted and pulled it down handing it gently to Hiccup. When all she got was a confused look she sighed and pointed at the title. The faded writing barely legible under the thick dust that covered it. Dragons: magic, marks and curses.

Raising a skeptical eyebrow, Hiccup looked at Gothi who returned the expression. After everything he had been through was he really going to debate the issue with her. "I think I understand Gothi, but do you really think this might be a curse?" He asked, worry and fear coloring his voice. The dragon had said it was simply a mark to remind him of their deal, would she really have lied and cursed him instead? She didn't seem the type, but dragons were a large mystery for the most part.

Gothi shrugged her shoulders at his question and simply pointed at the book, more than likely telling him that it might have the answer he was looking for. She may have seen what happened from her high perch, but that didn't mean she knew everything. Besides, he was a smart boy, certainly he could figure it out on his own. After all, he had more first hand experience with the dragon than she did.

Taking a deep breath, Hiccup blew his bangs out of his face. "Thanks Gothi, but I need to know. Does this mark match any legend that you know?" He questioned, with a cautiously hopeful expression. He feared that if it did he would be exiled or worse. He knew the villagers all too well and none would hesitate to call for his head.

Raising a hand to her face, Gothi put a finger to her chin tapping it in thought. She had heard many legends and out of all of them none had ever mentioned a mark like Hiccups. Shaking her head in reply she smiled. There may not have been a legend, but she could record his story and soon enough rumors would spread and those rumors would eventually become legend.

Looking back to the boy, Gothi pulled him back to his feet and ushered him to the door. After the boy left however, Gothi's face took on a worried expression. Worried for both the boy and the village. Gathering several herbs she ground them to a powder and cast it into the fireplace, the flames reacting in a most violent and colorful way.

As soon as the herbs met the flames they changed to a morose shade of purple and blue and dramatically increased the size of the flames. These two reactions told her that the village as well as Hiccup were in for an inevitable, massive, and violent change. Though for the better or worse was unknown, one thing was for certain, there would be great sadness in this change.

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After leaving her mark on the boy, Cynder made her way back to camp, though she left a long winding trail that doubled back on itself to throw off any possible persuers. She may have gotten the boys word and left a mark to remind him of their deal, but there was nothing really to keep him to his word unless she tapped into a part of herself that she would rather leave buried as deep as possible. 'On top of being something that Malefor would have done.' She mentally stated with a growl.

Landing in the clearing that was their temporary camp, Cynder curled up and let her weary body finally get some rest, completely ignoring the fact that Spyro wasn't there. She knew he could take care of himself and if he did need her then he would get her attention somehow. 'I wonder what that other dragon is doing right now, he seemed so angry when he tried to fly off.' That was Cynder's last thought before sleep overwhelmed her.

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Spyro had awoken an hour or so later, immediately noticing that Cynder was no longer in their camp, which worried him. He knew that if their camp had been discovered he would probably be dead or in a cage of some sort, which meant she had wandered off on her own after he had fallen asleep. Sniffing at the air he caught her scent and took off at a run to find her. Flying in broad day light would only get him spotted and he knew they couldn't afford that right now, they knew nothing of where they were and what was going on and as of last night, trusted no one but each other.

After locating the strongest source of her scent Spyro looked around and found several cut and snapped ropes weighed down by several heavy rocks, the scent of one of the dragon-like creatures as well as one of the creatures from the village he had helped came to him. Along with the heavy stench of fear from both Cynder's position in the bushes and from one of the rocks.

Whatever happened here had scared Cynder for some reason, but had nothing to do with Cynder. A fact that both confused and worried Spyro, this area wasn't far enough from camp for Cynder to be gone this long and it was the only scent trail he could follow. It was almost like her scent had been covered by anothers or wiped out entirely.

Taking a minute to gather his thoughts Spyro decided to follow the trail of the dragon-like creature. With any luck he could get some answers from him about what was going on and possibly find Cynder as well. Using both his eyes and nose Spyro followed the scent and scale trail left by the black scaled beast.

The sun was high in the sky when Spyro finally found the creature he had been hunting for, though there was no sign of Cynder which concerned him. 'Where could she have wandered off to?' He wondered, unknowingly glaring at the large black scaled dragon. 'Where could she have run off to and why can't I find her scent?' He questioned as he considered all of the possibilities.

Shaking his head Spyro leapt from the ledge, immediately catching the attention of the dragon-like creature. Landing far enough away from the creature that he wouldn't be seen as a threat, Spyro started the conversation. "Hello, I don't know whether you can understand me, but I mean you no harm." He stated kindly. "My name is Spyro and I was hoping you could help me." He finished, waiting for the black scaled reptile to reply.

It took several minutes before the dragon let out a trill that Spyro somehow understood. "I have no name, but I will help you if I can." The creature replied as the sun set.


	5. Chapter 5

A.N. This chapter is a bit choppy and I apologize for that. I had to write the scene between Hiccup and Stoick from memory because my dvd doesn't want to work anymore.

Ch:5

Making his way home, Hiccup attempted to sneak up the stairs past his father who was hunched over the fire pit jabbing at the logs and ash to stir the fire. Walking hurriedly and almost silently, Hiccup almost made it up the stairs before his father called his attention. "Hiccup, I need to speak with you son." Stoick stated in a serious and concerned tone.

Hiding the book Gothi gave him, Hiccup turned to face his father. "I uh, I need to speak to you too Dad." He replied glumly. He knew what he was going to say was not what Stoick wanted to hear but after everything that he had been through today, he knew it had to be said. "I don't want to fight dragons." Hiccup stated slowly, while at the same time Stoick said. "It's time you learn to fight dragons." He reluctantly stated, the pair looking at one another in confusion, asking 'what' at the same time.

Stoick stopped for a moment and gestured to Hiccup. "You go first." He stated looking directly into his sons eyes. He knew they both had something important to say, especially with the way Hiccup was trying to avoid him.

"No, no, you go first." Hiccup replied quickly raising his hands and gesturing to his father. He barely had the courage to say it the first time and now to have to say it a second time just made everything worse on his nerves.

Stoick took a deep breath. "Alright, I've decided to put you in dragon training. You'll need this." Stoick stated handing Hiccup an ax with a stern look on his face. He knew Hiccup would be somewhat safe, especially since Gobber was teaching the class and would be watching over him, as well as the other teens that would be in his class. Stoick couldn't help but worry though, he knew Hiccup would have to enter dragon training eventually but something felt off about his son and he couldn't put his finger on it.

Hiccup couldn't help but panic, his eyes widening as his father finished his statement. "Oh man, I should've gone first. cause I was thinking we have a surplus of dragon fighting vikings, but do we have enough bread making vikings or small home repair vikings?" Hiccup hurriedly questioned, hoping his dad would catch on for once in his life. His hopes were dashed as he heard his father laugh a bit.

Stoick couldn't help but laugh a little at what Hiccup had said. It was, after all, the only thing he ever tried to do. In many of the past raids Hiccup could be found with some crazy invention trying to help kill the dragons only for it to backfire and cause more harm than good. He would claim he had killed a Night Fury a couple of times only for there to be no evidence. "Oh, come on. Yes you do!" He stated incredulously.

Hiccup huffed a light sigh. "Rephrase, dad, I can't kill dragons." He stated with a less hopeful expression on his face he was certain that this conversation was going to go the same way every conversation with his father went. He would speak but his father had already decided what would happen and whether he wanted to or not Hiccup would have to go along with it.

Stoick replied, completely missing the meaning in his sons last statement. "But you will kill dragons." He said with a somewhat encouraging tone.

Hiccup shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure I won't." Hiccup retorted with a dejected expression.

Stoick had finally had enough and his face took on a no nonsense expression. "This is serious Hiccup. When you carry this ax, you carry all of us with you. No more of...this. Deal?" He asked, hesitating towards the end and gesturing at his sons small physique.

Hiccup decided to try once more. "Can you not hear me?" He asked, only to be interrupted by his father shouting "Deal?" with a more demanding tone to his voice. Sighing in defeat, Hiccup hung his head. "Deal." He said with a dejected tone and expression.

Stoick gave a stiff nod before hefting a bag full of supplies. "Good, train hard, I'll be back, probably." He said walking toward the door.

Hiccup replied without facing his father. "And I'll be here, maybe." He replied unenthusiastically before making his way up to his room with both the ax his father gave him and the book that Gothi gave him. Only one of them was going to be useful to him, so setting the ax aside for morning training, Hiccup sat at his desk and lit a candle to begin reading.

The first morning of Dragon training had come sooner than Hiccup would have liked. Grabbing the Ax his father handed him the night before, Hiccup made his way to the arena, arriving just after Gobber had opened the main gate. 'This is going to be great.' Hiccup sarcastically thought as he overheard the other teens talking about the scars they were hoping to get. "Yeah, pain, love it." He stated in his usual sarcastic tone.

As Hiccup and the other teens made their way closer to the dragon cages Hiccup shook his head. For a second he thought he could hear someone talking over Gobber, but no one was near the arena but the teens and their teacher and none of the teens were speaking. Brushing it off as his imagination, Hiccup focused on Gobber, knowing the man longer than the other teens he had a feeling that this would be one of his Learning on the job lessons.

How right he was, without telling them anything Gobber had released the Gronckle and, while they were busy dodging the boulder class dragon, he asked them questions. What their best weapon was? How many shots the dragon had? And while he remembered the correct answers given by Astrid and Fishlegs, Hiccups attention was more on the dragon than anything else. He heard her speaking, not just grunts and growls and gurgles like before his encounter with the black dragoness, actual words, and they were not nice.

Before he could make any kind of sense out of what he was going through, Hiccup found himself pinned by the angry Gronckle and about to be blasted by the dragons fire. He could see the fire building, feel the heat building in the dragons mouth, but before the Gronckle could deal the final blow the dragons jaw was jerked upward as Gobber diverted the killing shot which impacted just above Hiccup s head.

After locking the dragon back in its cage Gobber walked toward to gathered teens. "Alright, that's it for today. Remember, a dragon will always go for the kill." He stated putting as much emphasis in the sentence as he could. He didn't want to see any of the teens harmed, but this was the best way to make sure they knew what was at stake. Put them through almost exactly what they're going to face when they are old enough to join the actual fight against the beasts.

Fishlegs, based on what he saw while putting out the fires, decided to speak up. "What about those two dragons that helped us?" He questioned, but didn't give Gobber or anyone else a chance to speak. "If dragons always go for the kill, than why didn't they join in the attack?" He knew that no one in the ring had an answer but he had to ask just to see if they had any ideas that he hadn't considered.

Snotlout decided now would be a good time to both show off and hit on Astrid. "Who cares Fishlegs, a dragon's a dragon and I'm going to kill one of those new dragons just for you Astrid." He stated earning a strong punch to the gut and a deadly glare from Astrid. "Oh yeah, she likes me." He groaned holding his gut.

Gobber and the other teens shook their heads in disbelief at the boy and his constantly failing attempts to hit on Astrid. What kept him thinking that Astrid liked him? All the punches and various other means the girl used to brush him off or cause him pain when he did something extremely stupid should have been enough of a sign to tell him otherwise. As they left the arena unknowingly leaving behind what the village thought was the worst thing ever.


	6. Chapter 6

Hiccup left the arena minutes after the others, determination burning in his eyes. If dragons always went for the kill why hadn't the Night Fury? Or the black and purple dragon for that matter? What kept those two from killing the scrawny boy that they easily overpowered? His mind instantly rationalised that, because she was able to speak, she also had a more developed sense of right and wrong. Almost immediately he discarded that thought. That long moment he had stared into the Night Fury's eyes he could have sworn he saw an intelligence that he never thought a dragon could possess.

So what made them spare him? What could have made them choose to leave easy prey to live? Could that be it, was he too easy a kill for the dragons? Too many questions that he couldn't answer bounced around in his head, but he knew how to get the answers to one half of his problem. Find the black and purple dragon, after that maybe he could get some answers from her about why she let him live and what that mark had done to him.

Making his way through the forest back to where he had freed the Night Fury, Hiccup hoped he would encounter the black and purple female dragon, but as always it seemed the gods hated him. There was no sign of either dragon. It was like the female had simply vanished into thin air, while the Night Fury had left it's mark in the crash to show that it truly existed. The same could be said for the female, except her mark felt more like a curse and was less trackable. "So why didn't you?" Hiccup asked as he lifted one of the stone weights that made up the scraps of the bola which had once imprisoned the Night Fury. Dropping the now useless item, Hiccup continued deeper into the forest.

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Spyro had remained in the cove that entire night speaking with the dragon. He learned several different things from the stealthy creature but had no idea what to do with the information. Before he would have simply reported what he learned to the Guardians and they would figure out what to do. Now it was all on him and Cynder, two young dragons in unfamiliar territory with no one to help them but each other. It was almost like fate enjoyed toying with both Spyro and Cynder, and Spyro was getting tired of it.

Shaking his head Spyro prepared to fly out of the cove. "Thank you for the information. I will tell my friend everything you told me and we'll see what we can do to help you." Spyro said before leaping into the air. He had no idea that someone had been watching the exchange and drawing the two dragons.

As the Night Fury attempted yet another escape, only to crash painfully back to the ground in the cove. He could have sworn he saw something on the ledge but his stomach demanded food and so he turned to the lake and the meager fish inhabiting the large body of water. Watching carefully the Night Fury lunged for one close to the surface only to come up with nothing. If he could still fly there would be no problem, but as it was he had gone several days without food and it was starting to take its toll. Shaking his head the Night Fury sighed , it seemed that fate wanted to make the dragon suffer, or it had other plans that the dragon might not like. Turning towards the sound of wood on stone the dragon found the skinny boy that had freed him. How long had he been there? What did he want? The last time they had met the boy had threatened to kill him, only to set him free for some unknown reason.

The pair continued to stare at each other for a few moments before the boy stood and left leaving the item that had fallen into the cove behind. Little did the boy know that the Night Fury was just as curious now that the boy had sought him out. 'His scent has changed since I saw him, but what could have caused this?' The dragon wondered as he curled up for a nap. 'Why do I care, he'll probably never come back and if he does he'll just try to kill me again.' He shook his head and cast all thoughts aside, it was time for a nap.

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Cynder's sleep was far from peaceful, Her dreams filled with the screams of the villagers only reminding her of the horrendous acts Malefor forced her to commit and before she knew what had happened it was no longer the other dragons terrorizing the village, it was her corrupted jet black form. Burning houses, wounded and dead citizens, chaos, confusion and she was loving every second of it. "You know this is your true self Cynder, so why fight it?" Questioned an all too familiar deep baritone voice. "You could rule this pitiful world as a true queen, those pathetic creatures from the village could never withstand your might. They fled simply at your presence. Don't tell me you couldn't smell their fear." The voice stated as a face she would rather never see again took form in her mind.

Leveling a glare and growl at the disembodied face Cynder prepared for a fight. "Get out of my head Malefor, I will never be your puppet amd I will never give in to the evil you left behind!" She exclaimed, her glare intensifying. "You had to twist my mind before and now you have no power. This is my mind and I refuse to allow you to stay here one more second!" She shouted at the evil dragon that had stolen many years of her life. "I have a light in my life and it chases your darkness back to oblivion where it belongs!" She exclaimed, Spyro forming in her mental landscape of the village as the chaos stopped and the villagers stared at the brightening light emitting from the purple dragon that seemed to chase away every shadow it touched burning away the darkness that Malefor had left behind.

Cynder's eyes shot open as a new feeling took hold of her, a feeling she wasn't sure what to do with. Pure, unbridled freedom, for the first time in her life she felt truly free. No trace of the dark master left even in the furthest reaches of her mind, no influence from his dark power, nothing. Cynder leapt into the air with a celebratory shout as she danced through the air Unknowingly flying out over the ocean in front of the village she had helped oblivious to the onlookers that she had gathered from the village and the one companion that she had come to care for.

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Hiccup couldn't believe what he was seeing. He had just emerged from the forest amd made his way into the village when he noticed everyone staring at something in the sky. Looking up he saw the one dragon he had wasted his time looking for after his strange stare off with the Night Fury. She moved fluidly in a strange aerial dance that showed how happy the dragonness was, though the other villagers didn't seem to get the same message as many worried that this was a bad omen for the village.

Hiccup simply grinned before turning and making his way to the great hall. Let them believe what they wanted, he knew what she was feeling. 'Wait, how do I know for a fact that's what she's feeling?' He had only taken one look at her and instantly knew she was happy. He couldn't have known that unless. "...The mark she gave me. Oh why do the gods hate me?" He whispered hoping no one heard him. Grabbing a plate of food he moved to an empty table so that he could think without anyone interrupting him. 'If I can get feelings from her can she get them from me? If this is a two way street then maybe if I focus on her I can find her. Or maybe nothing will happen because this is all one big guessing game.' He sighed with a slight shake of his head, unaware that his tunic had shifted just enough to reveal part of the mark the dragon had given him.

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It did not go unnoticed, sitting one table over Astrid noticed something strange on Hiccup's chest. She couldn't make out exactly what it was, but she knew that Stoick would never let Hiccup get a tattoo and that the boy would never willingly submit himself to that process. She wanted to know what it was but she couldn't just walk up to him and demand to see it. She could tell one of the adults, but that was never her style. She could always ask Gothi, maybe she would know something about it.

A/N: Hey everyone, sorry for the long wait. Things have been kind of weird for me lately and ideas were just not coming to me. To the guest reviewer. I'm glad you think the story is fun to read but i'm having trouble understanding the last part of your review, have I messed up somewhere? 


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Hey everybody, I know it's been a REALLY long time and I apologize for that. Life has been a bit of a witch lately and I'm doing my best to get back into this. I hope you all will stick around and I will do my best to get another chapter out ASAP, but I can't make any promises. Enjoy the story and as always, please let me know what you think. I hope you have a merry Christmas and if you celebrate something else this time of the year, happy holidays to you as well. I would also like to wish you a happy new year while I'm at it, because I doubt I'll get another chapter out before then.

Chapter 7

Cynder danced through the air until her wing muscles ached, sending an unpleasant jolt up her spine. Turning towards the island, the dragoness flew far into the forest to throw off anyone that might try to track her, and stealthily made her way back to camp. Her arrival was greeted by a wide smile and curious eyes as the purple dragon chuckled at the joyful expression on Cynder's face.

"You seem quite happy, did I miss anything interesting?" The purple and gold dragon asked with a raised eyebrow. He'd had no luck finding her until her little display and his curiosity was starting to get the better of him. He'd never seen her that happy.

"Nothing much, just conquering a demon that has no place in the here and now." Cynder replied with a smile. "Of course, I had some help." She said rubbing her head against Spyro's neck. "Thank you, for everything Spyro." The dragoness said as she walked closer to the fire and curled up, ready for a long rest after burning all of her energy. "What about you, anything interesting happen?" She asked, forcing herself to stay awake just a bit longer.

Spyro huffed a quick laugh. "As a matter of fact, yes." The purple dragon responded. "I met one of the dragon's that call this place home. I learned a lot of interesting things, like the fact that they no longer use crystals to recharge their magic or keep themselves healthy." Spyro informed her earning a shocked expression from his companion. "Apparently the crystals stopped growing, forcing them to change and adapt to this new life style." Spyro continued, informing her of several more changes that had occurred, and a few more drastic pieces of information as the sun began to set.

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Hiccup ate quickly and went straight home. Gobber had asked the teens where they had gone wrong today and, as usual, most of the others had nothing nice to say to him. Or anything particularly helpful for that matter. But, he mostly ignored their comments, telling himself that he was used to it by now. He also read the book of dragons, which wasn't very helpful at all. Nothing but "extremely dangerous" and "kill on sight" written on the pages with a few bits that explained how they killed things. Grabbing the book Gothi had given him he began reading the sections he thought most applicable to his situation.

"Not much is known about dragons, but many have claimed that a dragon put a curse on a loved one after a series of accidents that end in the death of the loved one." Hiccup read swallowing hard as he rubbed his mark. The book went on to show several supposed curse marks left by dragons, but none matched the one on his chest, the one left by the purple and black dragoness.

"Ok, so that means that this new dragon has brought a new mark that may or may not be a curse." Hiccup said as he continued to read a couple other sections before climbing into bed. "Knowing Gobber, he'll have something much worse setup for tomorrow's training." Hiccup said, getting comfortable and quickly falling asleep.

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Hiccup hated being right. When he showed up for training, the first thing he noticed was the wooden wall maze. ' _Oh great, what's he going to have us do today?'_ He wondered as he made his way into the arena with the other teens. Before any of them knew what was going on a bird-like screech filled the arena and the teens quickly scattered. All but Hiccup that is, who decided to question Gobber about Night Furies and any additional books with dragon info.

He never got an answer, only quietly shouted at and silently instructed to join the teens kneeling by one of the wooden maze walls. One by one Astrid, Snotlout, and Hiccup dived and rolled past the Nadder unseen. At least that was plan. Lacking the upper body strength to complete the maneuver with the heavy shield Hiccup was dragged backwards, the noise catching the dragon's attention.

The arena descended into chaos after that. The dragon, tired of being tricked, gave chase to the teens knocking over the wooden walls in a massive domino effect with deadly consequences for any in the wrong spot at the wrong time. Sadly, that person happened to be Hiccup as Astrid came hopping across the tumbling wooden structures shouting at him as she leapt from the last one to escape the dragon close behind her.

It was a rough landing for both Astrid and Hiccup, the stone floor of the arena promising bruises in their future. If the dragon climbing out of a pile of debris let them live that is. Both the dragon and Astrid climbed to their feet, almost at the exact same time. Though as Astrid noticed the dragon coming for them she fought to retrieve her axe which was buried in Hiccup's shield. Unable to pry her weapon loose, the blonde haired viking jerked Hiccup's shield from his arm and bludgeoned the dragon under its jaw sending it whimpering off to the side and back to its cage.

Hiccup, curled in a ball in an attempt to protect himself, tried to get up as soon as the Nadder was no longer a threat, but was stopped by Astrid pointing her axe at him. "Is this all just a game to you?" She asked heatedly, thinking the boy was only there to cause more trouble. "Our parents war is about to become ours, figure out which side you're on." The girl said, glaring at him before stomping away to calm herself down.

In all honesty, Hiccup didn't know whose side he was on anymore. Twice he'd been spared by a dragon while his village treated him like a no good troublemaker. Sure the village hadn't given him a magic mark with unknown side effects like the black dragoness, but so far it had only given him the ability to understand the gronckle, though he was sure there was more to come. Pushing himself to his feet Hiccup headed home, an idea coming to mind as he entered his home and retrieved a shield and a single fish before setting off into the forest.

It took him a bit longer to get back to the cove this time, but Hiccup finally arrived and carefully made his way down into the cove through a small crevice barely big enough for the shield and tossed the fish into the clearing waiting several minutes before advancing only to get the shield wedged in the rock walls. The boy attempted to get the shield unstuck, but couldn't even budge it from its current resting place. Breathing a light sigh, Hiccup turned away from the shield and picked up the fish as he glanced around the cove trying to spot the dragon.

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Meanwhile the dragon had snuck up on Hiccup, hiding behind a large rock and perching on top of it before slinking down and getting the boys attention. The dragon was cautious as the boy offered the fish, but his rumbling stomach forced the him to stretch out to get the snack only to retreat a second later with a growl, his eyes narrowing as he caught sight of the shining metal blade hidden on the boy under the bear fur.

The dragon had to admit that the boy surprised him. The creature hadn't expected him to willingly throw away his weapon at the command of a growling dragon, but the second the knife disappeared the black scaled beast slowly approached once more and opened his mouth to receive the fish. Only to have to snatch it from the boy as he gave the dragon a funny look and seemed confused by the dragons lack of teeth.

Noticing that the boy didn't seem to have anything to eat, the dragon approached with slightly narrowed eyes. When the boy whispered that he didn't have anything else, as the dragon had thought, the creature decided to hack up part of the fish to share and return the favor. Depositing it in the boys lap the dragon sat back on its haunches and watched the boy waiting for him to eat. When it looked like the boy didn't understand what was going on, the dragon made a motion for eating which earned a reaction from the boy that almost made the creature laugh. The dragon remained serious though and made the motion again, happy when the boy finally did as he instructed.

The dragon glanced down at the fish when the boy offered it but made the swallow motion as he narrowed his eyes slightly at the boy. The dragon couldn't understand the gesture and expression on the boys face, but he tried to imitate it. Only for the boy to try to reach out and touch him. "I don't think so kid." The dragon growled before turning and making a short shaky flight away from the boy and shaking his head before scorching the ground beneath him and curling up for a nap.

It didn't last long though, as the boy came and sat next to him a few minutes later. In response the dragon moved its tail and fanned the fin to block the boy from its sight, only to hear him carefully scooting closer. Quickly closing his tail fin the dragon caught the boy trying to reach out and touch him once more, though the boy quickly withdrew his hand and stood walking away stiffly as the dragon slunk off to nap in a tree like a bat.

'Why does he keep trying?' The dragon wondered. 'And what is this strange feeling I keep getting from him?' The creature pondered as it found a branch that would hold it and climbed up hanging itself by its tail and falling asleep.

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Hours passed and Hiccup still hadn't left the cove even though it would be dark soon. He was too busy pondering everything that had happened and scratching doodles in the dirt. His most recent and one that he was still working on seemed to get the dragons attention as it awoke and approached, seemingly curious about what the boy was doing. Hiccup continued to work purposely ignoring the large creature next to him as he tried to finish his doodle.

Seconds later the dragon trotted off catching the boys attention and causing him to turn at the loud crack of a limb being torn from a tree. Hiccup watched in surprise as the dragon scratched large swirling lines in the dirt copying Hiccup's actions. The boy smiled as the dragon looked back at him before continuing on for a few moments. When it finally seemed like the dragon was done Hiccup went to look it all over, accidentally stepping on one of the lines and earning a warning growl from the dragon.

Picking up his foot Hiccup noticed that the dragon calmed down so he decided to test an idea. He set his foot down on the line and picked it up a couple more times before stepping over the line and being careful as he made his way through the large picture, spinning this way and that as he maneuvered through the twisted and overlapping lines. Somehow he ended up close to the dragon, its breath tussling his hair as the boy turned to face the dragon hesitantly.

To Hiccup the dragon looked curious even as he reached out to touch the dragon, its eyes didn't change like the first time he'd tried. The creature still growled at him and narrowed its eyes, but it didn't look as threatening as the first time. Taking a breath Hiccup closed his eyes and turned his head away as he reached out his palm facing the dragon. It felt like ages as Hiccup waited with his arm outstretched, wondering if he'd make a friend or if he was about to lose an arm. The sudden contact of scales on skin surprised Hiccup and he let out a quick breath as he slowly turned to face the dragon with wide surprised eyes, the dragons opening seconds later. "Don't make me regret trusting you boy." The large black scaled creature said before running off to gather its thoughts.


End file.
